Door and lock operating mechanism



June 19, 1934. J. A. YOUNGBLOOD DOOR AND LOCK OPERATING MECHANISM FiledNov. 11, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 awe/WM Jfllazugbload June 19, 1934- J. A.YOUNGBLOOD DOOR AND LQCK OPERATING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 11, 1933 3Sheets-Sheet 2 w ww June 19, 1934.

J. A. YOUNGBLOQD DOOR AND LOCK OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 11, 1953 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 19, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOORAND LOCK OPERATING MECHANISM James A. Youngblood, Dallas, Tex.

Applieation November 11, 1933, Serial No. 697,672

'7 Claims. (Cl. 1897) This invention relates to operating mechanism fordoors and locks such as are employed in prison cell installations. Oneof the objects is to provide novel, relatively simple and dependablemeans to impart varying speeds to the cell doors during the opening and"closing movements whereby a great mechanical advantage is obtainedthrough the mechanism to overcome the inertia of the doors and wherebythe doors-are gradually retarded lo 'during the final stages of theiropening and closing movements. Another object is to provide a durableoperating device for a plurality of doors which 'is'not subject todestructive wear and is not impaired by any resulting lost motion. A

further object is to provide improved manually operable mechanism forimparting successive movements to a master door propelling bar and alock operating bar by means of a single actuating member.

26 Other aims and advantages of the invention will appear in thespecification, when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings; wherein: I s

Fig. 1 is 'a fragmentary vertical sectional view mi showing thepreferred form of mechanism applied to the end of a series of cells;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; vs

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mechanism,

go parts being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

511 Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a developed view on an enlarged scale of an operating wormfor the door propelling bar and Fig. 8 is an edge view of the cam foractuating a lock operating bar.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the il lustrated mechanism isshown as being applied to a master operating system for a series ofsliding cell doors and locks such as are used in largeprison'installations wherein the doors and locks are actuated by a doorpropelling bar 10 and a lock operating bar 11. These bars are usuallyarranged in a casing 12 above the cells 13 which have a row of slidingdoors 14, one such door.

being shown in Fig. 1. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat master operating mechanism for such cell doors is usually arrangedin a control cabinet 15 at one end of the row of cells. In this case,the usual selector mechanism for effecting the operating connectionsbetween the master bars and the respective doors and locks is omittedbecause such mechanism is old and well known. It is sumcient to statethat a keeper or attendant may select any number of doors to be openedor closed by manipulating suitable selectors in the control cabinet 15.

In accordance with this invention, lock and door operating movements areimparted in proper 7 sequence to the locking bar 11 and door propellingbar 10 by a single hand wheel 16 mounted on a shaft 17 journaled in thebearing 18 on the back wall of the master control box. On this shaft: isshown a sprocket 19 driving a chain 20 trained Y on'a sprocket 21 whichis keyed to a shaft 22 jourf naked in the casing 12 and carrying a worm23'. The worm 23 is shown as having a helical groove 24 of varying pitchfrom one end to the other and connected to the door propelling bar 10 bymeans x of aroller 25 on a pin 26 projecting laterally from the bar. Thepin is confined in the groove by means of a grooved guiding plate 27suitably se-f cured to bearing brackets 28 atthe opposite'ends of theworm. The arrangement is suchthauas the hand wheel is turned, it impartsrotation to 0" the worm, thereby moving themaster propelling bar to itsdoor opening or door closing position. In this instance, the two masterbars are located on the same side of the worm to enable the easing'to bemade relatively narrow. 5

In the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the master propelling bar is inits door closing posi tion and the worm is adapted to be turned throughapproximately four revolutionsto move the bar to its door openingposition. Referring qg to Figs. 1, 3 and 6, it will be noted that thehelical groove 24 in the worm terminatesat its opposite'ends in shortcircumferential portions extending around about one-fourth of theperiphery of the worm, without imparting movement to the propeller bar10, and the pitch of the groove gradually increases from its terminationat each end toward the central portion of the worm. The arrangement issuch that the hand wheel has to be turned through a partflmd of arevolution before any movement is 'imparted to the door propelling bar.It is given. sufiicient lost motion to enable the operating mechanism toactuate the lock operating mechanism as will later be explained. Afterthe hand wheel turns through about one-eighth of a turn, depending uponthe gear ratio of the driving sprockets 19 and 21, initial opening orclosing movement of the doors is imparted gradually and their speed isaccelerated until the rollerllO locking position.

. and worm.

. .the locking bar 11.

reaches the center of the worm. Thereafter, the opening or closingmovement is deeelerated or retarded until the door comes to rest and itis opened or closed gradually without any shock. Then, the final turningmovement of the worm provides sumcient lost or idling motion at the endof the door opening or closing movement to permit the locking bar to beoperated again. The lost motion and the varying pitch of the worm aretherefore important features or" the door operating mechanism. A furtheradvantage of the circular portions of the slot or groove at the ends ofthe worm resides in the fact that the mechanism is self-locking andprevents any unauthorized actuation oi the door propelling bar. In otherwords, the door propolling bar is positively locked against anylongitudinal movement at both ends of its stroke when the hand wheel isturned through the limit of its movement in either direction.

Thelock operating bar 11 is here shown as being positively driven by thehand wheel while the door propelling bar is idle or during the lostmotion part of the movement of the hand wheel In this instance, a cam 29in the form of 'a disk having a bent edge 30 is secured to the handwheel shaft 17. This cam operates a lever 31 pivoted intermediate itsends to brackets 32 and connected at its upper end to The lower end ofthe lever is shown as having a pair of spaced pins 33 in the form ofshouldered bolts carrying rollers orsleeves 34 which straddle contactand contact with opposite faces of the cam so as to impart oscillatingorpivotal actuating movement to the lever. The lever is bent adjacent tothe hand wheel to provide adequate clearance for the fingers. (Figs. 5and 6.) When the parts are in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 6, thelever has moved the locking bar to its door- When the cam dip or bentedge 30 passes in either direction between the rollers, the leverimparts full, unlocking movement to the locking bar. The bar is held inthis position until the cam rotates through nearly a complete revolution(see the nomenclature applied to Figs. 7 and 8) The gear ratio ispreferably such that one revolution of the hand wheel will operate allof the doors so that the cam actuates the looks after the doors arecompletely opened or closed. However, if more mechanical advantage isrequired the gear ratio may be changed by employing a smaller drivingsprocket and the cam may be operated by a pair of gears. q In Fig. 1, itwill be noted that the forward 'end of the locking bar 11 is near theinside wall of the door of the control cabinet. When it' is moved to itsunlocking position it projects through the door opening. Thus, thecabinet door cannot be closed and locked until the locking bar is in itslocking position.

What is claimed is: 1. In an operating system for cell doors having'adoor propelling bar, a worm having a decreasing pitch from the centralportion toward its opposite ends connected to actuate said bar; and

a manually operable member connected to the worm.

a door propelling bar, a worm having a helical groove of varying pitchdecreasing sharply from the central portion toward its opposite, endsconnected to said bar to provide a maximum mechanical advantage duringthe initial door opening or door closing movement of the bar; and a handwheel connected to operate said worm.

3. In an operating system for cell doors having a door propelling bar,an elongated worm having a helical groove journaled adjacent to andparallel with said bar; said groove having a much greater pitch at themiddle than the pitch near the opposite ends; a roller on said barconfined in said groove; and an operating hand wheel connected to rotatesaid worm.

, 4..In a lock and door operating system for cell doors having a doorpropelling bar and a lock operating bar, a worm connected to impartmovement to the door propelling bar; a hand wheel connected to rotatethe worm; mechanism operable by the hand wheel connected to impartmovement to the lock operating bar only when the worm has moved the doorpropelling bar to its door-opening or door-closing position; and saidworm having end portions with zero pitch permitting it to rotate idlywhile the mechanism is actuating the lock operating bar.

5. In a master lock and door operating system for cell doors having amaster door propelling bar and a lock operating bar, a worm having ahelical groove connected to the door propelling bar, said groove havingend portions extending circumferentially of the worm to permit the wormto rotate through a portion of a revolution without moving the doorpropelling bar; a hand wheel having a shaft connected to rotate theworm; a cam operatively connected to said hand I wheel shaft; andoperating means connecting thecam to the lock operating bar, said cambeing timed to impart lock operating movement to the lock operating barwhile the door operating bar is held against movement by said worm.

6. In a master lock and door operating system for cell doors having amaster door propelling bar and a lock operating bar, a worm having ahelical groove connected to the door propelling bar,, said groove havingend portions extending circumferentially of the worm to permit the wormto rotate through a portion of a revolution without moving the doorpropelling bar; a

hand wheel having a shaft connected to rotate V a lock operating bar, aworm mounted adjacent to the door propelling bar having a helical grooveof varying pitch with a short circumferential por tion at each end; aroller on the master propelling bar confined in said groove; a guideplate for the propelling bar adjacent to the worm; a hand Wheel gearedto operate the worm; a cam connected to be operated by the hand wheel; apivoted lever connected at one end to the lock operating bar; and meansconnecting the other end of the lever to the cam, said cam being sotimed as to impart lock operating movements to the lock operating barwhile the propelling bar is held against movement by the circular endportions of the helical groove in said worm. JAMES A. YOUNGBLOOD.

